Weekly Daf #210

Credit Rating

Although it is forbidden on Shabbos to carry any item from the
private to public domain, i.e., from the house to the street,
one who does so does not become liable to the death penalty for
willful violation - or a sin offering for an involuntary one -
unless the item carried has some minimal value. Almost the entire
eighth perek of Mesechta Shabbos is devoted to explaining
what a minimal value is considered for everything from wine and
oil to rope and paper.

It is in regard to paper that we find a most interesting dispute
between Rabbi Yehuda and one of his colleagues. If the paper
in question has a debt note written on it, then there is a consensus
that it has sufficient value to be the instrument of serious Shabbos
violation if carried. But what if the debt has already been paid
and the note has been returned to the borrower, and the borrower
carries the note out into the street?

In contrast to his colleague's opinion that there is no value
in such a used document for the borrower, Rabbi Yehuda rules that
he is guilty of violating the Shabbos and liable to the aforementioned
penalties.

But what value can such a paper have for the borrower? Although
we sometimes find that such papers could be utilized as bottle
caps, it is hardly likely that a borrower would do so for fear
that unless destroyed the debt document might fall into the hands
of the lender who could then, out of avarice or forgetfulness,
once again demand payment of the debt. What other use could there
then be for the borrower to warrant holding on to it?

Rabbi Ashi comes to the rescue with a brilliant interpretation
of Rabbi Yehuda's point. The paid up debt note is valuable to
the borrower because he can show it to other potential lenders
as evidence that he pays his debts and has a good credit rating.

(Shabbos 79a)

Killing Yourself to Learn

"Torah knowledge," says Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, "is
not truly acquired unless one kills himself in order to learn."

A number of explanations of this statement have been offered by
commentaries through the ages.

One approach is that one must invest tremendous effort in his
search for an understanding of Torah. "Should a man tell
you that he discovered the meaning of Torah without investing
extreme effort," say our Sages (Megillah 6b) "do
not believe him."

Another approach to "killing yourself" is to deny yourself
the comforts of life which may serve as distractions or which
tempt you to take away valuable time and energy from Torah study
in order to acquire them. "Such is the way of Torah study,"
say our Sages (Avos 6:4) "eat simple bread and salt
and drink your water in measure."

While these two approaches focus on the dimensions of exertion
and self-denial required for someone to achieve maximal success
in his study of Torah, there is yet another approach which is
suitable even to the Jew who can afford only an hour or two a
day to study Torah. Such a Jew often finds that he is interrupted
during the time period he has set aside for Torah by visitors
and telephone calls. One Jew solved this problem by instructing
his wife to tell all callers that he was unavailable because he
was "dead." Only after she heard their astonished reaction
was she to explain that during the time he finally found for Torah
study he "killed himself" in order to avoid any distractions.